Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success 1

Dedfiniteness of Purpose

     Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. And its lack is the 1)stumbling block for 98 out of every 100 people, simply because they never really 2)define their goals and start toward them. Study every person you can think of who has achieved lasting 1 success. You will find that each one has had a definite major purpose. Each had a plan for reaching that goal, and each 3)devoted the greatest part of his or her thoughts and efforts to that end. Andrew Carnegie was the man who led me to 4)formulate 2 my definite major purpose, 5)assembling and 6)publicizing the principles by which great individuals achieve 7)enduring success.

     Carnegie started work as a 8)laborer 3 in a steel mill. Because of his definite major purpose to make and market better quality steel than anyone else, he became one of the wealthiest men in the country and was able to 9)endow libraries in small towns all across America. His definite major goal was more than a wish. It was a burning desire. Only by finding your own burning desire will you achieve success. The difference between a wish and a burning desire is crucial. Everyone wants the better things in life, money, fame, respect. But most people never go beyond just wishing for them. If you know what you want from life, if you are determined 4 to get it to the point that it becomes an 10)obsession 5, and you back that obsession with continuous effort and sound planning, then you have awakened 6 and developed definiteness of purpose.

     Once you learn how to harness the 11)tremendous potential of your mind, how to organize the knowledge you already have, you can turn them into the power necessary for obtaining your definite major purpose. Definiteness of purpose develops self-reliance, personal initiative, imagination, enthusiasm, self-discipline and concentrated effort. All these are required for success. Definiteness of purpose encourages you to 12)specialize and 13)specialization leads to perfection. Your success in life will depend a great deal on your ability to know much about a specific area and to perform exceptionally within it. General education is important because by pursuing it, you will discover your basic 14)aptitudes and desires. Once you have 15)discerned them however, you should immediately begin to acquire specialized 8 knowledge in your major interest.

     Definiteness of purpose will act as a 16)magnet to attract to you the specialized knowledge necessary for success. Once you have determined your definite major purpose, you will begin to budget your time and your money and all your day-to-day endeavors so that they will lead to the attainment 9 of your major purpose. Time budgeting always pays dividends 10 because each moment is made to progress toward your goal. Money is also used to its best advantage, ensuring that you pass the 17)mileposts along the road to success. Successful people make decisions quickly as soon as all the facts are available and firmly. Unsuccessful people make decisions slowly and they change them often. Remember that 98 out of a hundred people never make up their mind about their major purpose in life. They simply can’t make a decision and stick to it.

     How can you overcome the habit of avoiding decisions? Start with the very next problem you face and make a decision. Make any decision. Any decision is better than none. If you make some mistakes at first, take courage. Your 18)batting average will improve. Knowing what you want will help in decision-making of course, because you can always judge wheather or not, it will contribute to your goals.

The greatest benefit of definiteness of purpose is that it opens your mind to the quality known as faith. It makes your mind positive and frees it from the limitations of doubt, discouragement, 19)indecision and 20)procrastination 11.CE

  设定明确的目标

确定目标是取得所有成功的起点。每一百人中就有九十八人因没有真正地设定明确的目标而在前进中遇到绊脚石。仔细地研究一下你能想起的、曾取得过许多成功的人士，你会发现他们每个人都有明确的主要目标。他们每个人都为要达到目标而制定计划，而且他们都为实现目标做了大量思考与不断努力。是安德鲁·卡耐基引导了我明确自己的主要目标——学习并宣扬那些曾取得持久成功的伟大人物所订立的原则。

卡耐基起初是在钢厂工作的工人。因为他明确了自己的主要目标，制造和销售的钢铁比别的厂家都好，他成为当时全国最富有的人之一，这使得他有能力向全美国的图书馆和小城镇提供资助。他的明确目标不仅仅是一个愿望。那是一个炽热的理想。只有找到了自己的炽热理想，你才能取得成功。愿望和炽热理想之间的区别是很关键的。每个人都想在生活中获得更好的东西：金钱、荣誉和尊敬。但是大部分人只是有得到这些东西的愿望而从未超越。如果你知道你想从生活中得到什么，如果你对它的热爱达到痴迷的程度，而且用持续的努力和合理的计划来维持这种痴迷，那么你就终会恍然大悟并朝此目标前进。

一旦你学会了如何驾驭你思想中的巨大潜能和如何组织起你已经学到的知识，你就能把它转化为实现主要目标的必要力量。明确的目标可以培养独立、个人主动性、想象力、积极性、自律性和精力的集中。所有这些都是成功的要素。明确的目标鼓励你走向专业化，再由专业化走向完美境地。生活中的成功很大程度依靠你在专业领域的能力，并在其中身体力行。全面教育是重要的，因为通过接受全面教育，你才会发掘出基本的才能和愿望。一旦你识别明了它们之后，你就该立刻开始在你主要感兴趣的领域内掌握专业知识。

明确的目标就如磁场一样，吸引着你去掌握成功必须的知识。一旦你明确了主要目标，你要开始预算你的时间、金钱，还要日复一日地付出努力，这样才能使你达到主要目标。做时间预算总会取得收益，因为每一刻中你都在朝目标迈进。金钱也应做到物尽所用，确保你能在成功的路上通过里程标。只要所有因素都齐备并确定，成功人士总是快速地作出决定。不成功的人们缓慢地作出决定，而且经常改变决定。要记住：一百个人中有九十八个人在一生中从没有确定过他们的目标，他们不能作出决定并坚持不懈。

那么你怎样才能克服犹豫不决的毛病呢？从你面临的下一个问题开始，作出决定。作出任何决定都行，任何决定都比没有决定好。如果在刚开始时你出了些错误，要勇敢点。你的平均成功率会提高的。知道想要什么会有助于你作出决定，因为你能判断出气候好坏，那对你实现目标有帮助。

明确目标的最大益处是开启你的思想，使之上升为信念。它使你的思想更加积极，使之从怀疑、怯懦、犹豫不决和拖拉中解放出来。CE

1) stumbling block 绊脚石，障碍物

2) define [di5fain] v. 定义

3) devote [di5vEut] v. 投入

4) formulate [5fC:mjuleit] v. 明确表达

5) assemble [E5sembl] v. 集合，聚集

6) publicize [5pQblisaiz] v. 宣扬

7) enduring [in5djuEriN] a. 持续的

8) laborer [5leibErEr] n. 劳力

9) endow [in5dEu] v. 捐赠

10) obsession [Eb5seFEn] n. 着迷，缠住

11) tremendous [tri5mendEs] a. 巨大的 

12) specialize [5speFElaiz] v. 专攻

13) specialization[speFElai5zeiFEn] n. 专门化  

14) aptitude 7 [5Aptitju:d] n. 恰当，智能 

15) discern [di5sE:n] v. 辨别，识别

16) magnet [5mAgnit] n. 磁场，磁石  

17) milepost [5mail7 pEust] n. 里程标

18) batting average  n. 平均成功率

19) indecision [indi5siFEn] n. 优柔寡断

20) procrastination [prEu 7krAsti5neiFEn] n. 拖延，耽搁